-
152
Its News To Me: Teaching Students To Create A School Newspaper
By
Michelle Sumlin- Long Columbus Middle School Overview Rationale
Objectives Strategies Classroom Activities Annotated Bibliographies
Appendices Standards Overview Welcome to the world of newspaper
writing! This Curriculum Unit on Developing a School Newspaper is
designed for middle school students, but could be adapted and used
for other grades as well. This unit has eleven lessons that will
allow teachers to walk students through the process of planning,
writing and publishing a school newspaper of their very own! This
unit provides four to five weeks of newspaper experience for middle
school students at any skill level. The unit begins with an
introductory lesson that focuses on why news is important. It goes
on to inform the teachers and the students on the benefits of
reading the newspaper. This unit will allow students to explore the
various parts of a newspaper and learn how to gather the facts. The
unit will also help the students use the newspaper as a source of
developing their reading, writing, thinking and communicating
skills. Furthermore, this unit will also broaden the students
vocabulary and at the same time keep them abreast of the current
events. Moreover, the students will also have the opportunity to
use the latest technology to publish their schools newspaper. Last
but not least, this curriculum unit on developing a school
newspaper will enable students to work towards the necessary
requirements for their Standard Based Portfolio in communications.
Rationale Why develop a unit on creating a school newspaper? I am
developing this unit for several reasons. One, Columbus Middle
School does not currently have a school newspaper. I believe a
school should always have a place where the school community -
students, teachers and parents can meet to exchange information,
ideas and opinions. In this curriculum unit I plan to have my
students plan, write and publish the Columbus Middle School Bulldog
School
-
153
Newspaper. This newspaper will be published once a month. This
paper will inform the school community on the school news, sports,
and upcoming events. It will also include editorials,
advertisements and feature stories that the students will create
for the newspaper as well as to fulfill their Communications
Standards. Secondly, teaching students to create their very own
school newspaper will definitely encourage them to read the
newspaper that they had a part in publishing. Students who read the
newspaper in school may also develop a habit of reading and
listening to news outside of school. Getting in the habit of
reading and listening to the news can help develop and improve
student vocabulary, word recognition skills and comprehension.
Reading the newspaper can also help students build critical
thinking, problem solving, oral expression and listening skills.
Writing for the newspaper will give the students plenty of
opportunities to express themselves. The newspaper provides a
writing model for students where they can learn by imitating the
clear, concise style of news writing. Furthermore, developing this
unit on creating a school newspaper can open up communications
between the students and their parents. The newspaper has been a
great tool for teaching youngsters about current events and
hopefully this unit will encourage them to become informed citizens
and lifelong newsreaders! Objectives: * The students will discuss
the importance of news and having a school newspaper. * The
students will become aware of the advantages of reading and
listening to the news. * The students will identify and define the
various categories of a newspaper. * The students will write
headlines for the newspaper. * The students will research and
gather facts from a news article. * The students will report on
facts and information in a news article. * The students will use
the writing process when writing articles for the newspaper. * The
students will keep a Newspaper Journal with all newspaper
vocabulary, notes and reflections.
-
154
* The students will identify the people, equipment and the
functions of putting together a newspaper. * The students will be
able to work in cooperative groups. * The students will enhance
their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. * The
students will also improve their thinking skills. * The students
will learn to operate a digital camera with the teachers
assistance. * The students will be able to use Microsoft Publisher,
clip art and the internet. * The students will attend a field trip
to the local newspaper facility. * The students will be able to
publish and distribute the school newspaper. Strategies: Timeline:
This unit is designed to be taught at the Middle School level but
can be adapted to teach at any grade level. It was written to be
taught over a course of four to five weeks. It can be lengthened
depending on the grade level and timeframe. Materials: In order to
create a school newspaper, you will need to have a collection on
various newspapers and high interest news articles. You will also
need writing materials such as paper, pencils pens, markers, chart
paper and construction paper. You will need to have access to
computers, the internet, printers, a digital camera and a copy
machine. Modeling: Students will gain insight to the expected
objectives through observing the teacher. Cooperative Groups:
Students should be able to work individually as well as with a
partner and in cooperative groups in order to carry out the
functions and responsibilities of developing a school newspaper.
Newspaper Journals: The teacher and the students should keep a
Newspaper Journal in order to record related vocabulary, notes and
reflections.
-
155
Field Trip: The students will attend a field trip to a local
newspaper facility in order to get a firsthand experience of the
daily operations of at a newspaper facility. Evaluation: The
evaluation for this unit will be the published news articles,
essays that will be featured in the newspaper, assessments on the
various newspaper vocabulary and elements and the final product
which is the school newspaper. Contents of Curriculum Unit Lesson
1- Why is the News Important? Lesson 2- Exploring The Newspaper!
Lesson 3- Heads Up For Headlines Lesson 4- Obtaining The Facts
Lesson 5- Tabloid Tales Lesson 6- Field Trip Lesson 7- The School
Newspaper Lesson 8- Reports From The Reporters- Writing for the
School Newspaper Lesson 9- Proofreading Lesson10- Revising
Lesson11- Publishing The School Newspaper Lesson 1: Introduction
Why is News Important? In this lesson the students will be
introduced to the curriculum unit on creating a school newspaper.
The students will determine why news is important and discuss the
advantages of reading and watching the news. The students will also
participate in a scavenger hunt to identify what students in the
classroom watch the news. To start this lesson, conduct a survey to
see how many of your students actually watch the news or read any
type of news magazine or newspaper. Once you get a count you can
tell the students that NEWS stands for News Economics Weather- and
Sports. These items along with others are usually the highlights of
a news program. Begin to discuss with the students the importance
of watching the news. You can share that by watching the news one
can be informed of current events that are taking place in their
neighborhood, in their city, state and country and the world
-
156
around them. Reading and watching the new helps students
understand the importance of people, events, and issues in the
news. You can also inform the students that the news comes to us in
various forms such as the T.V., newspaper, news magazines, radio
and the internet. You can also discuss the benefits that youngster
have that watch the news. According to Edward F. DeRoche, students
who watch the news or read the newspaper tend to score higher on
standardized achievement test particularly in reading, math and
social studies. Reading the newspaper helps students become
effective readers. Newspapers can help develop and improve students
vocabulary, word recognition skills and comprehension. Newspapers
increase the awareness of and interest in current events.
Furthermore, students who read newspapers in school tend to
continue reading them when they become adults. You can also share
some facts about newspapers that students are probably not aware
of. You can say did you know that a roll of newsprint is 10 miles
long and weighs 2,650 pounds? Did you know that the base ingredient
in newspaper ink is soybeans? Did you know the white space between
columns of print is called the alley or gutter? Did you know that
if you draw an inverted triangle over the first paragraph of a news
story, you should be able to find the answers to the questions who?
what? when? and where? Within the sentence or sentences indicated
in the triangle? You can have these facts about newspapers written
on chart paper and have the students copy these facts in their
Newspaper Journal that they will keep throughout this unit. You can
then start activity one for the first lesson. Activity 1: In this
activity, the students will go around the classroom and find out
what their classmates know and have experienced about the news.
They can use the same individual for no more than three items but
must collect the initials of someone for every question. On a
worksheet, type in the items below and print a copy for every
student. Give each student a copy and let them hunt around to see
what their classmates know. You can give them a time limit and when
they are done you can tally up the results and have a class
discussion on the various items. The student with the most initials
can win a reward. What Do You Know About The News?
1. Can name two TV news reporters 2. Watched the news on TV last
night. 3. Watched part of the Today Show this morning. 4. Can name
three countries that were in the news last week.
-
157
5. Knows something about a natural disaster that was in the news
in the last two years.
6. Can name at least three different sections in the newspaper.
7. Can name the governor and the mayor. 8. Can name at least two
different jobs on a newspaper. 9. Can name two national news
magazines. 10. Listened to the news on the radio in the last day or
so. 11. Can name three American cities that were in the national
news last week. 12. Can name the leaders of three countries other
than the United States. 13. Know what the five Ws of news reporting
are.
Lesson 2: Exploring The Newspaper In this lesson the students
will be introduced to the many facets of the newspaper. They will
also use a K-W-L Chart to determine and record what they know about
newspapers. To begin this lesson you will need chart paper for the
K-W-L chart. You will need chart paper for each cooperative group.
Be sure to label the parts of the newspaper on the chart paper for
each group. You will also need a newspaper for each cooperative
group.
Introduce the topic of the newspaper by formulating a K-W-L
chart on the board. Ask students to brainstorm what they already
know about the newspaper and the news.
Ask the students prompting questions such as what is news? What
is the newspaper used for? Where can you get a newspaper from? Who
reads the newspaper at your house? What are the names of the
newspapers that are sold in your area? Who is able to write in a
newspaper and how are they able to do this? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of a newspaper? Why would you want to purchase a
newspaper? If you were to read a newspaper, what section of the
newspaper would you be interested in reading? Record their
responses under the K of the K-W-L chart. Next, ask the students to
brainstorm questions that they want to learn about the Newspaper.
Record the students questions on the chart paper under the W of the
K-W-L chart for what they want to know.
-
158
Activity 1:
Display the front page of the local newspaper to the students,
and focus their attention on it, Identify, define and discuss the
following terms that are associated with the front page. Explain
why each part is significant. Explain that the reader would not
know where a paper is from without a banner. Explain how the index
makes locating the weather section or the comic section easier than
looking at every page. Discuss that the other parts such as the
headline, byline, dateline and caption are designed to give the
reader pertinent information before they begin to read a news
story, this information will help the reader determine if they want
to continue to read that particular article. Have the students
record these terms in their Newspaper Journal. Banner- gives the
name of the newspaper and tells where the paper is printed and how
much it cost. Headline-It is the title of the story which is
written in large bold letters above the story Byline located below
the headline/title and tells who wrote the story. Dateline- tells
the city, state and/or country where the story was written, all
letters are capitalized. Caption- located below the photos and
tells what is in the picture Index- gives the page number of the
different sections of the newspaper News story- an article that
reports a news event. After you have discussed these term with the
students, have students create their own front pages by cutting out
these particular sections of the newspaper and pasting them on
construction paper. Tell students that they will need to include
all parts of the newspaper listed on the chart paper to have a
completed front page. The students will need to have a newspaper,
construction paper, scissors, paste and colored markers to complete
this activity. Inform students that they should place their names
and the date on the banner section of the front page. The students
can use the colored markers to decorate their banner at the top of
the page. Once students have completed the activity check their
work by checking to see if students have included all parts of the
front page listed on the chart paper. Display the students work on
a bulletin board entitled Extra, Extra read all about it!
-
159
Activity 2: Have students participate in a Newspaper Scavenger
Hunt. This particular activity will also get the students familiar
with what is in the various parts of the newspaper. In their
cooperative groups have the students research specific information
such as: What was the score in the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the
Baltimore Ravens game? What is the top news story of the day? What
sitcom is coming on tonight on channel 11 at 9:00 p.m.? What does a
new Trailblazer cost at the Cochran Dealership? What is the weather
forecast for the day? Give them about 10- 15 items to research. The
first group to find all the correct items can win gold slips which
can be redeemable for prizes. Activity 3:
Using the newspapers that you have provided for each cooperative
group, give them a few minutes to browse through the paper again.
Have the students list from their discovery the various sections of
the newspaper (examples: sports, comics, weather, business
articles, news stories, advertisements, T.V. guide, real estate
ads, classified ads, etc.)
Next, have students in cooperative groups cut out examples of
the
different parts of the newspaper and label them on an individual
groups chart paper. Once the students are done, discuss the various
sections and have them record the terms in their Newspaper journal.
Check each groups chart to verify the correct labeling of the
newspaper parts.
Furthermore, have students respond to the following statement: I
only
know about Television, so explain a newspaper to me. Their
responses can be placed in the students Newspaper Journals that
they will keep throughout the unit. Discuss the various sections
and have the students record the terms in their Newspaper Journal.
Sports section highlights all sports events and gives team scores
T.V Guide - a colorful section outline of television viewing for
that day with program listing, times and stations Weather section
provides a complete weather forecast for that particular day
-
160
News stories- an article that reports news Lesson 3: Heads Up
For Headlines In this lesson the students will be introduced once
again to the word Headline. The students will also define the words
topic and main idea and determine the main idea of a news story.
Furthermore, the students will write headlines for news
articles.
Start the lesson by asking students how do you think writers get
you interested in reading their stories? Proceed by telling them
that the writers try to make their headlines as interesting as
possible. Ask students if they remember the definition of the word
headline that should be in their newspaper journal. Discuss the
definition with the class once again. Explain that a headline is
the title of the story that is written in large bold letters to
attract the reader. Stress to the students the importance of
writing a good headline. The headline should grab the readers
attention and tell the reader the articles topic, all in a few
words. Show them several examples of headlines that may catch their
attention. Tell them that today they will have the opportunity to
create their own headlines for news articles after they have
determined the main idea of a news story. Also introduce the word
topic and main idea. Have them write these words in their journal
as well. A topic is the general subject that all the sentences in
the story talk about. The main idea is the most important idea
expressed in a piece of writing.
Choose three short news stories that would be interesting to
your students.
Cut off the headline and then photo copy each one so that you
have a copy for each student. As you read these stories out loud to
the students, have them follow along with you. After reading the
first article, discuss the topic of the article and the main idea.
Have a space where they can record the topic and main idea of the
article. Then have students try to come up with headlines for the
articles. Have them write their headline at the top of the article
with a marker. Write their responses on the board then as a group
choose the best headline for the story. Ask students which
headlines do they think would attract the attention of the readers.
Do this with the other two articles to make sure the students
understand how to determine the topic, main idea and headline. Once
they show that they understand, you are now ready for activity one.
Activity 1: This activity can be done within their cooperative
groups. Distribute a wide variety of news articles that would be of
interest to your students. Be sure to de-head the articles by
removing the headlines. As a group, have the students read
-
161
the article, determine the topic and main idea and then come up
with an attention grabber headline that reflects the main idea of
the article. Students can paste their article on chart paper and
record the topic and main idea. Above the article the student can
create the headline using a colored marker. Provide time for the
students to share their news stories and their attention grabber
headlines with their classmates.
Post all the original headlines in an accessible place; then
have the students select the headline that goes with the article
that they read. Explore the following questions with the students:
Do the headlines match the actual headline? Do they express the
same idea as the newspaper headlines? Are the students headlines an
improvement on the actual headlines? Remind students that a good
headline tells the main idea of a story, it should have a subject
and a verb, and it should entice the reader to read the article.
Newspapers are the best resource for this particular activity;
however, teachers can use some of the following online news sites
as sources:
Time for Kids StudentNewsNet Scholastic News Zone New York Times
Learning Network
For an assessment you can provide five news stories without
headlines and challenge each student to create headlines for all
five stories. At least four of the five headlines should correctly
identify the main idea of the news story. Lesson 4: Obtaining the
Facts In this lesson the students will learn to identify the
components of a news story by obtaining the facts. Students will
also interview classmates to practice interviewing skills and to
gather facts. Explain to the students that news reporters often
write stories about events that they have seen. Before writing, the
reporter must obtain the facts, and observe what is happening.
Reporters always record these important questions before writing an
article. Who is the story about? What happened? Where did the event
take place? When did the event happen?
-
162
Why did the event happen? How did the event happen?
Read a short article to the students and have them gather the
facts by listening and recording the 5W questions and how on an
index card. Discuss the facts as a class and check to see if the
students were able to obtain the correct responses to the 5W
questions. Next read another short article to the students and have
them determine what W fact is missing. First have them list all the
facts that are in the story by answering the who, what, where, why
and how. Write their responses on the chalkboard. Then have them
focus on what fact is missing. Have students retell the story
including all of the facts. Activity 1:
Ask students to think of their favorite stories that they have
read so far in Communications class and list some of these stories
on the chalkboard. Under each story list the who, what, where, when
and why questions. Give students more index cards so that they can
do the same. Ask the students to give you the facts by giving you
the five Ws to the stories. Have students write the facts on the
index cards while you write them on the board. Activity 2:
Explain to the class that another way that you can find the
facts in an article is to draw an inverted triangle over the first
paragraph of the article. Give each cooperative group an article to
read. Have them research the facts by drawing an inverted triangle
over the first paragraph in order to locate the facts. Have the
groups paste their article on construction paper and record their
responses to the 5 W questions on the bottom of the construction
paper. Have students give a brief summary of their article and have
them present the facts. You could also hang these on a bulletin
board and call it Just The Facts
Activity 3:
This activity will give the students an opportunity to organize
their facts while
interviewing a classmate. Provide the students with a worksheet
that has the 5 W questions on it. Pair the students with a partner.
Have each student think of an unusual experience that they had
either in school or out of school. Have their partner interview
them to get the facts about this event. The partners can take turns
interviewing each other. As they interview each other have them
record their
-
163
partners responses on the Fact sheet. Give students an
opportunity to share some of their facts. Lesson 5: Tabloid
Tales
In this lesson students will have the opportunity to learn about
the power of
exaggeration by writing news stories that accompany actual
tabloid headlines. The students will also have the chance to
explore current tabloid stories and research the five W questions
in that story. The materials that you would need for this activity
are a collection of tabloid newspapers and writing materials. Begin
this lesson by defining and discussing the term Tabloid. Have the
students record this term in their Newspaper Journal. Provide the
latest issues of some tabloid newspapers. Share a sampling of
headlines and stories that have been published recently. Be careful
to choose articles that are appropriate for your grade level.
Inform students of the kinds of stories that are found in the
tabloids. Discuss how unbelievable many of the story headlines are
and how writers exaggerate. After you have shared several tabloid
headlines with the students, select one of the headlines and write
a short story with the students. Be sure to write the story that
they imagine might have appeared with that headline. The teacher
can write the story on chart paper as the students give the teacher
the details and facts of the story. Encourage the students to be
creative! After you have written the story share the real story
with the students to see how the class story uses the power of
exaggeration to mimic a tabloid news story. You can also read the
actual published story and compare it to the class story. Activity
1:
In this activity have the students demonstrate their own
creative thinking and writing skills by writing their own stories
using tabloid headlines. Provide the students with a list of
Tabloid headlines. Have students choose the headline of their
choose and write a creative story which includes the facts and
supporting details and examples of exaggerations. Once students are
done have them revise and proofread their stories and type the
final draft. You can also have the students proofread each others
papers. Check stories to see if students included the facts and
examples of exaggerations. Once stories are complete you can
compile the stories and create a class newspaper entitled Tabloid
Tales. This should be a fun activity so encourage the students to
have great fun and be creative!
-
164
The following are some tabloid headlines that you can use with
this activity:
Ravioli Worker Rolls In Dough Dog Eats Eight Wristwatches
Roaches Take Over Pittsburgh Pat Bus Burglar - Alarm Factory Robbed
Veggie Eating Mother Has Green Baby Her Son Is A Werewolf
Bodybuilder Explodes Plumber Goes Down The Toilet Missing Baby
Found In Watermelon Dog Lands Plane After Pilot Has Heart Attack
Bigfoot Stole My Gal *Students can choose one of these tabloid
headlines or create their
own.
Lesson 6: Field Trip to your Local Newspaper Facility
In this lesson you can plan a field trip to your local newspaper
facility or
invite a reporter to come and speak with your students about the
daily operations at a newspaper facility. Have the students learn
as much as they can from this experience. The students will need to
take their Newspaper Journals to take notes on this event. The
students should brainstorm and prepare questions to ask the
reporter about their occupation as well as the facility. The
students should also answer the 5W questions that relate to the
event. When the students return, have each cooperative group write
an article about the fieldtrip. In their article they should have a
headline, the lead and a byline. The article should discuss the
events that occurred on the fieldtrip and what they learned and
enjoyed from the trip. You could also take the digital camera along
to take pictures that can be displayed in the school newspaper.
Have each group share its article about the trip then decide (with
the students) which article should be featured in the school
newspaper. Do not forget to include the photo from the digital
camera! It would also be nice for the students to send a copy of
their article to the newspaper facility along with a thank you
letter. Lesson 7: The School Newspaper
In this lesson read the story The School Newspaper by Rod
Quantock. This book discusses the people who are involved in
developing a school newspaper, people such as the Organizers,
Contributors, Editors and the Designers. It also discusses the type
of equipment and materials needed to publish
-
165
the newspaper such as computers, cameras and printers.
Furthermore, it informs the readers of the various categories that
a newspaper can be divided in, such as the news, editorials,
features, sports, pictorials and school events just to name a few.
Last but not least, the book includes a section where the students
can look back and reflect on the published piece. It tells students
to decide on what they like and dislike about the school newspaper.
Moreover, it tells them to think about how and where they can make
changes to improve the content and design of the paper. While
reading the book, stop at certain points in the story to check for
understanding. Leave the book out on the table so that the students
can refer back to it at any time during the unit.
After you have read the School Newspaper story, discuss its
contents with
the students. From this point you can begin developing plans for
your school newspaper. The first thing you can discuss is the name
of the school newspaper. You can have students brainstorm various
names and have the students vote on what to name the newspaper. You
can also take it a step further and have the school vote on a name.
You can make an announcement and tell the student that your class
has come up with several names for the school newspaper and they
would like the student body to participate in the voting process.
Place a ballot box in your room or the central office for students
to place their vote.
Next, you want to discuss the content of the newspaper. What
sections do you and the students want to include in the newspaper?
You can include such sections such as up coming school events, past
school events, news features, sports events, comics, and book
reviews. You may also want to include a section that lists the
students who are on their way to achieving their 25 book goal. You
can also include students who have received honor roll or high
honor roll. You can also feature students and teachers of the month
and write a short bio on those particular candidates. You can also
include a comic section and a word search section or some type of
puzzle.
Furthermore, you need to discuss what cooperative groups will be
in
charge of the organization process. You also want to discuss who
will contribute articles to the newspaper, who the editors will be,
who the designers will be and who will be in charge of using the
equipment. Last but not least, you want to decide who will be in
charge of the equipment and publishing the school newspaper. As you
are discussing these ideas, get a feel of what group would be
interested in performing each job. You can decide what job each
cooperative group will have or you can have the students decide
along with you. You also want to decide how often you will publish
the school newspaper, whether it be monthly or quarterly. Moreover,
your class needs to decide on a publication date for the first
issue of the school newspaper. You can also decide how you plan to
distribute the paper to students, staff and parents. You may also
decide if you are
-
166
going to charge the school community for the newspaper or if it
is going to be free. Once you have decided on all of these factors
you can record this information on chart paper and hang it up in
the classroom so students are aware of their responsibilities. The
School Newspaper The People *Organizers Organizers find the tools
and the people to use them. They look after timetables, find work
spaces and arrange staff. *Contributors Contributors write the
words, draw the pictures, and take photographs that fill the pages.
Anyone can be a contributor, and anything can be contributed.
*Editors Editors decide what should go into the paper and on what
page it should go. They also proofread for spelling and grammatical
errors and factual mistakes. Writing interesting headlines is
another job for an editor. *Designers Designers arrange each page
so that it is interesting to look at and easy to read. The
Equipment * Computers - You can design your newspaper right on the
computer screen using Micro-Soft Publisher. * Printer Using a
copier is the easiest way to make as many copies as you want. *
Digital Camera Digital cameras allow you to save pictures and print
them right off the computer. You can cut and paste pictures right
onto your school newspaper. What To Include *News some ideas for
new stories are school excursions, fairs, school dances, plays or
concerts, sports events and news about new students or
teachers.
-
167
* Editorials- The editorial section can include a message from
the editor, known as the editorial, as well as letters to the
editor from readers. In a school newspaper, it is a good place to
put a report from the principal. * Features feature stories give
more detail and background that news reports do, some examples
would include science or art projects, stories about people in and
around school and stories that center around holiday and travel. *
Sports These articles can include reports on recent competitions
and their results as well as interviews with star players or
coaches. * Entertainment The entertainment section of the newspaper
can offer fun things for readers to do in their spare time. These
can include fictional stories, puzzles, poems, jokes cartoons, and
even recipes. There may also be reviews of music, T.V. programs,
plays and books. * Advertising This section may include things for
sale, job notices and even lost and found. * Pictorial This section
includes drawings and photos which can add visual interest to the
pages. Lesson 8: Writing For the School Newspaper In this lesson,
the students will compare and contrast school newspapers from
various middle schools. You can get a collection of school
newspapers off the internet or you may have to make a trip to the
various middle schools in your area to collect different school
newspapers. The students will listen to a number of lead paragraphs
to determine the elements that make them interesting and worth
reading. The students will review what needs to be included in a
newspaper article. You can provide a review sheet so the students
will have a resource or checklist to refer to when writing.
Finally, the students will also begin using their creative thinking
and writing skills to produce a piece of work for the school
newspaper. You will need a collection of different school
newspapers and writing materials. You can also purchase the book
entitled Create Your Own Class Newspaper by Diane Crosby. This book
walks students through the process of planning, writing and
publishing a school newspaper. It includes sections on writing news
features, conducting personal interviews, drafting sports features.
It also includes instructions on writing headlines and editing for
the newspaper. Each section includes a teacher page with
information on how to introduce the topic and accompanying student
pages. The student pages include reproducible forms and worksheets
for writing notes and final drafts. It also includes ideas on
-
168
integrating the curriculum with various subjects like social
studies, math and science. You can use this book as a resource when
you are assigning writing assignments for the newspaper.
You can begin the lesson by showing students a collection of
school newspapers from different schools. Skim through some of the
school newspapers as a class so the students can see examples of
the various sections that the school included in their newspaper.
Read through and discuss some of the sections and articles so the
students can get a feel for the types of articles. Stress to the
students that the lead paragraph of an article is very important
and should be an attention grabber. The lead paragraph should make
the reader want to read the whole article. Talk about the elements
that make the reader want to continue to read. You may ask what
action words or descriptive words did the writer use to make the
lead paragraph interesting and exciting? What are the most
important facts? What could have been done to make the lead more
interesting? These are just a few examples of some question that
you could ask the students to encourage them to be more descriptive
when writing. Provide the students with a list of action words and
descriptive words to use while writing. This will improve their
writing skills as well as their vocabulary. Now you can begin
assigning creative writing assignments to the cooperative groups or
to the individual students. Activity 1: In this activity you need
to review with the students the information and sections that you
want in the school newspaper. Review the chart that has the list of
sections that you decided on in lesson 6. You can use the book
Create Your Own Newspaper to assign students new stories to write.
Assign The Contributors (the students) a topic for their portion of
the newspaper: (i.e. news article, editorials, special features,
sports, entertainment, advertising or pictorial etc.) Be sure to
provide students with graphic organizers to research and organize
their information. Students should begin working on their
assignment for the newspaper. Give the students ample time to begin
their project but you also want to give them a deadline because you
want to be sure you are on schedule for the publication date.
Lesson 9: Proofreading In this lesson the students will learn the
basic proofreading marks to indicate spelling, punctuations and
grammatical errors in an article. They will use editing techniques
to proofread articles checking for errors in spelling,
-
169
punctuations and grammar. Students will also proofread and
revise their article for the newspaper. Provide a list of the basic
proofreading marks so that the students can place this in their
Newspaper Journal. Demonstrate for the students the proofreading
marks on chart paper so you can hang it up in the classroom when
you are done. Give students several sentences to practice
proofreading. Activity 1: Before the students begin to proofread
and revise their articles give them some practice. Have the
students demonstrate their understanding of the proofreading marks
by having the students proofread 3 lead paragraphs, checking for
errors in spelling, punctuations and grammar. You can create this
worksheet for them. Tell students there are 5 mistakes in each
paragraph. Provide space for the students rewrite the lead
paragraphs making the necessary corrections. Review the lead
paragraphs with the students to make sure students have found all
of the mistakes. Activity 2: In this activity have the students
become Spelling Detectives as they seek out the spelling errors in
current events news stories. This activity can be done individually
or in pairs. Copy a short article on to a teacher made worksheet
and edit the text to include 15 spelling errors. These misspelled
words should be words that the students should be able to spell.
Have the students circle the misspelled word and write the correct
spelling of the word above it. You might want to double space the
text so the students will have enough room to write the correct
spelling above the misspelled word. Review the article with the
students to make sure the students have found all 15 spelling
errors. Lesson 10: Revising
In this lesson students will use editing techniques to revise
and peer edit for the school newspaper. The students will need
their articles and work that they prepared for the first issue of
the newspaper. Tell the students that their news stories need to
give the correct information. They must check for accuracy and make
sure that their facts are correct. Share these editing rules with
the students. Once again you can write these rules on a chart and
hang them with the proofreading chart. Also provide a revising
checklist for students.
-
170
Editing Rules: * Check the facts Make sure all your facts are
correct * Be sure your lead paragraph tells who, what, when and
where * Check to make sure that the body of your story contains
supporting details about your lead. * Be sure your headline is an
attention grabber and will interest the readers * Check for
spelling, punctuation and capitalization *Make sure each paragraph
is indented Activity 1: In this activity you can have the students
revise and edit their own work before it goes to the Editors. They
can also create a headline for their work. Be sure to inform the
students to begin the line with a strong verb to catch the readers
attention. Remind them to use their list of action words and their
descriptive words. Have the students type their final draft of
their article or work. Be sure to use the spell checker and save
the draft on a 31/2 disk or cd. Give a copy of the completed work
to the teacher and to The Editors. Lesson 11: Publishing The School
Newspaper In this lesson the students will generate a complete
product, which is The School Newspaper using Microsoft Publisher.
They will also comprehend the process of writing a newspaper and
the students can complete the L from their K-W-L chart that they
started at the beginning of the unit. The students will need a
computer with Micro- Soft word and a printer. Students will also
need access to a copier machine unless the teacher is going to
carry out this duty. Once the students have done the necessary
steps in completing their final draft of their work, it is time for
publishing. The Designers along with the teacher will decide the
layout of the paper. Once the school newspaper is complete,
distribute it to the school community which includes the students,
staff and parents. You could also publish the final product on the
Internet for all to enjoy! Now get ready for issue # 2. You may
want to start a Newspaper Club to publish the remaining issues of
the newspaper.
-
171
Annotated Bibliography Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Elements of
Literature, Harcourt Education Co, Austin 2005 A sixth grade
literature book, includes various fictional and non-fictional
stories and informational text. Quantock, Rod, The School
Newspaper, Wright Group/McGraw Hill, Bothell WA A book that
discusses the various elements of a newspaper. It also discusses
the different functions of a newspaper. Crosby, Diane, Create Your
Own Class Newspaper , Incentive Publications Inc, Nashville TN A
complete guide for planning, writing and publishing a newspaper. It
includes reproducible worksheets on which students can write notes,
rough drafts, and final newspaper stories. Web Sites
www.kidsnew.com Various articles on current events for students.
Also includes resources for students and teachers.
www.educationworld.com A collection of professional Development
resources and archives. www.essdack.org/tips/newspaper Tips on
developing and organizing a newspaper. Student Book List Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Elements of Literature, Harcourt Education
Co, Austin 2005 A sixth grade literature book, includes various
fictional and non-fictional stories and informational text.
Quantock, Rod, The School Newspaper, Wright Group/McGraw Hill,
Bothell WA
-
172
A book that discusses the various elements of a newspaper. It
also discusses the different functions of a newspaper. Crosby,
Diane, Create Your Own Class Newspaper , Incentive Publications
Inc, Nashville TN A complete guide for planning, writing and
publishing a newspaper. It includes reproducible worksheets on
which students can write notes, rough drafts, and final newspaper
stories. www.kidsnew.com Various articles on current events for
students.